Overdrive Options

PoisonDart74 said
As far as that torsion bar mount, I think people are wayyyyyy to sensitive about cutting it out. Especially with the use of a 1/4" loop. Plus, did you see that beefy cross member everyone builds or is it just me?

That has TONS of torsional strength.

That in addition to the frame connectors your suppose to have in there negates any issues.

Or maybe I'm just a wild a**hole. Time will tell, something tells me the sky won't fall when I do a jump at 70mph after this mod. :)

Then I can officially tell the over-thinkers to kiss my a**. :butthead:

I will just say a few things. You calculate the bending moment of inertia of the original torsion bar support and it is amazingly strong. Now... Can someone cut it out and put NOTHING in its place??? Sure.... Will those people experience major structural failure?? Maybe, maybe not. I would say this.... The factory has 6 bolts holding the engine and transmission together at the bellhousing. Can you leave one out?? Sure. Will you have a problem?? Probably not. Could you leave out 2 bolts?? Sure. Now you are more likely to have a problem. Could you run it with only 1 or 2 bolts.... You get the idea.
The amount of twist from the torsion bars is quite incredible!!
I should go look at this 1/4 loop. Ive seen some pretty crazy replacement pieces for the factory frame support. Sure, frame connectors are good.... But they are on the outside of the torsion bar mount... Even when you triangulate to the inside, it doesn't have the resistance to twist equal to a strong box type frame above the tranny, with a connecting mount underneath the tranny like the factory setup. Overthinkers?? Who?? All I can say is... You have heard about the transmission woes, and the problems with a weak frame... I would rather be in the "OVERTHINKERS" camp, than the..... " I should have done that different" camp. That's just me. Respectfully. Todd